Not a Dream
by Aourie
Summary: 12 year Riley wakes up one day in Sieyo- and suddenly finds herself fighting the same war to protect children's dreams as the characters from her favorite show!
1. Chapter 1

**Me: Hi! Welcome to my first ever fan fiction, Not a Dream. I just hope you like it! **

**Riley: She worked really hard so don't be **_**too**_** mean!**

**Me: … thanks, Riley… Well, enjoy!**

**Riley: Aourie does not own Shugo Chara or its characters! **

**Not a Dream**

**Chapter One**

It was just another normal day at Seiyo Elementary. As always, the student body could be heard whispering about the guardians: Hotori Tadase, Kings chair. Mashiro Rima, Queens chair. Fujisaki Nagihiko, Jacks chair. Yuiki Yaya, Ace. And Hinamori Amu, the Joker.

"Oh wow… they're so amazing!"

"I _love_ their capes!"

"She's so cool & spicy!"

"I wish I had her hair…"

Nagihiko smiled gently at the fan girls as the friends walked by, ever the polite one.

Yaya puffed out her cheeks, bored. "Yaya doesn't want to go to school today! Yaya wants ice cream~"

Tadase smiled at her and said, "There's a new student today, Yaya. We need to be here."

"But Yaya's bored~" Yaya whined.

The friends laughed. Yup, just a normal day at Seiyo.

**(The Day Before…)**

Riley groaned, rubbing her head and wincing when her hand came in contact with a large bump. What had happened? She had been minding her own business, when suddenly everything had gone white and she had woken up… Uh, where was she?

Riley looked around, pushing back pink dyed bangs, taking in her surroundings. She should be home, shouldn't she? She had been on her computer, last she remembered, watching Shugo Chara for the umpteenth time.

Granted, it wasn't a bad sight to wake up to, but how the heck had she gotten here? She looked down… and screeched.

_Eggs_?

WTH?

She poked one of the two eggs in her lap, and it wiggled. Riley's hand flew to her mouth in shock. A Shugo Chara? She laughed in relief. She must have fallen asleep.

Satisfied, she decided to enjoy the strange dream. The egg she had poked was dark blue with a black lace pattern around the middle, and on the center a pencil and paintbrush crossed each other, vaguely making an "X". The second egg was olive colored with the same lace pattern, but a little white chef's hat replaced the pencil and paintbrush.

A huge grin on her face, Riley carefully picked up her eggs and rose, looking around and recognizing where she was. Seiyo elementary. She did a little dance.

Coolest. Dream. Ever.

**Me: I hope you enjoyed chapter 1 of Not a Dream! I just want to say, I hesitated with the X on her egg, worried how people would take it, but I've learned to trust my instincts when I write, it always works out! Nevertheless, please remember this is my first fan fiction, so I'm not used to using other peoples characters. Be kind, rewind, and all that!**

**Riley: Two eggs? Yay me! *victory dance***

**Me: -_- You're so weird.**

**Riley: I know. That's why you love me :D Review, please!**


	2. Chapter 2

** ME:Ohmygoshness! TT^TT People actually _favorited_ me!It wasn't even that good a first chapter! Anywhoodles, welcome to chapter two! I won't bore you anymore... **

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><p><strong><em> Chapter 2<em>**

Since Riley had determined she was dreaming, she decided to enroll at the school in hopes of seeing the Guardians. Riley blushed. She had such a crush on Nagi, but was also a total Rimahiko fan. Nevertheless, the thought left her giddy. Oooh, and Ikuto! And, and, and… Well, all of them!

She was told she'd start the next day, so she decided to go sightseeing.

After a little while, worry for her eggs won out over her curiosity and she went into a shop and bought a bag with generous padding to put them in. She let out a little fan girl squeal, causing the shopkeeper to look at her strangely. She didn't care. She had _two_ Shugo Tama! Who cared if this was all a dream!

Soon it became dark and she sat down on a bench in the park. Riley was worried. Time was passing really slowly for a dream. But, there wasn't any other explanation, right? Eyes growing heavy, she fell asleep, slumping over on the bench.

The next day, after changing into the uniform issued to her the previous day in a public restroom, Riley stood anxiously in front of her homeroom, trying not to gawk at Guardians and their charas. Oh my Goddess, her inner fan girl squealed. That's Amu! Ran, Miki, Su… Oh and there's Rhythm! Poor Temari, Riley thought sadly, not being able to come out.

"Ah, ah… my name is Riley- I mean Abel Riley," she corrected, remembering she was in Japan.

"Good, good," Nikaidou-sensei replied. "Go over there, beside Himamori-san."

"_Hina_mori," Amu said, rolling her eyes. "Nice to meet you Abel-"

"Call me Riley," she interrupted, grinning. OMG, she was talking to Amu. Like, for real. Of course, it was only a dream, but still.

Amu smiled. "Cool, you can call me Amu."

"Why did she do that to her hair?" Kiseki demanded. "I'll never understand commoners!"

"Hush, Kiseki," Tadase murmured.

Riley grinned at Tadase, causing him to blush, although inside she was all, back off dude, Amu's Ikuto's!

Amu tilted her head, looking at Riley oddly. It looked almost as if Riley saw Kiseki, but how likely was that? Amu shook her head, dismissing the thought.

Meanwhile, Riley, unknowing of Amu's musing, was positively glowing in excitement. Only thing that could make this dream better was if her eggs would just hatch already!

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><p><strong>Me: Still not much action. We're getting there.<strong>

**Riley: No way! I got to meet the Guardians!**

**Me: Don't mind her. Thanks so much to City-tan (Sydney L. Miltimore) and Epic Tan-tan (Epic Tantrum) for reviewing. It made my day! :D On that note. I'm not going to beg for reviews, so review if you want. I could always use constructive criticism where I need it. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Me: Yay! Another chapter already! :O I just didn't want ya'll to have to wait for something to ACTUALLY happen for another 1-2 weeks, so I'm giving you this chapter also! The first egg will hatch!**

**Riley: And she's **_**awesome (**_**of course, she's my would-be self).**

**Me: Sure… Anywhoodles, let chapter three begin!**

_**Disclaimer: Aourie does not won Shugo Chara! or it's characters. **_

_**Chapter 3**_

Art class. One of Riley's favorite classes. She loved all types of art. Painting, drawing, writing. To her, anything in which something is created is art, and she enjoyed it all. However, she wasn't very confident in her skill. She felt as though there was always something wrong with her works, whether it was scale or shading, or word flow in her writings. Nevertheless, she enjoyed the challenge, even if she kept worrying over the final outcome.

So of course, finding out art was her second class had her doing a little victory dance, which in turn had people looking at her strangely, but who cared! Feeling movement in her bag, Riley opened it and watched the blue egg wiggle. She really hoped it hatched soon. She wanted to meet her charas!

Amu popped up out of nowhere, grinning. "What're you looking so intently at-" she trailed off, staring down at the two eggs. Amu's gaze flashed back up in shock. "You-"

Nagihiko looked over Amu's shoulder, eye's widening in surprise. "You should come with us after class, and we'll explain to you about those."

Riley nodded eagerly. Cue inner fan girl squeal. She was going to go deaf inside her head if this kept up.

The teacher gave an assignment and Riley huffed out a breath of aggravation. Paint a picture from memory. One of the hardest things for Riley to do. Looking at a photo, or model was one thing, even if it didn't come out how she wanted it. It was completely another to try and call up a picture to her mind, whether it was real or made up, and put it down on paper or canvas.

_Don't worry_, a soft voice said. _I'll help you._

The wiggling in the small, tattered-style, olive colored messenger bag intensified and suddenly, a picture came into her mind's eye. Of their own accord, Riley's hands began to move, painting the image she saw. Riley grew flustered as the painting finished.

_Crap_, the thought when she put down the brush. On the once blank canvas was now a painting that would bring up a lot of questions.

"Finished already?" Amu asked, leaning over to look. Her cheeks turned red when she saw the painting and little faces gawked as they look over their bearer's shoulder. A laugh Riley didn't recognize rang through her head. "How… Why… What?"

"I can explain…?" Riley replied meekly.

"Please do," Amu retorted, her glare's intensity diminished by her blush.

"After class?"

Amu opened her mouth to reply but the teacher hushed her and told her to get back to work.

Riley groaned. Great, just great.

Asking to go to the bathroom, Riley worried over how to go about explaining that the painting, which was of Amu and Ikuto on the teacup ride, had been her memory of the TV show they all starred in?

Suddenly, a small figure popped in Riley's view, and she squeaked, suddenly remembering her egg had hatched. The Chara had multi-colored hair pulled into a high ponytail, her black headband stark against the red, blue, purple, pink, and white highlights. She wore a black vest over a pink short sleeve shirt and paint splattered short-shorts; her little feet were clad in brown ankle boots. To top it all off, she wore an artists apron and a kind smile beneath violet eyes.

"My name's Teagyn, born from your love of the arts," her soft voice said. "I'm your Shugo chara!"

Riley grinned at Teagyn, happy to finally meet her first chara!

The bell rang, causing Riley to sigh as Teagyn flew onto Riley's shoulder. Slightly depressed at the reminder that she now had to explain to the Guardians that they were from a show, she headed off to the Royal Garden.

**Me: Wasn't too bad, right? If you have any suggestions to make it better, I'd love to hear it.**

**Riley: Teagyn!**

**Teagyn: …**

**Riley: OMG! MY FIRST CHARA!**

**Me: Yeah, so stop scaring her, and our reviewers, away. Like I said, I won't beg for reviews (this is the last time I'll say even that), but it's always appreciated. Base! (From that Big Bang video? Farewell? Yeah, they're epic :P).**

**Riley: *waving manically* Buh-bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Me: Ack! I'm so sorry I didn't update last week! My step-sister's getting married in a few weeks and there's a lot of last minute stuff needing to get done- on Wednesday, my step-brother needed to get his tux fitted, and on Thursday my step-sister got her veil (it's so pretty!) (hey- spell check tells me Thursday is capped but my English teachers say its not… who's wrong?), so my step-mom couldn't bring me, and Fridays close early. I don't know what happened Monday and Tuesday….**

**Anyway, Teagyn, wanna do the disclaimer thingy?**

**Teagyn: *sweet smile* Sure. Aourie does not Shugo Chara! or its characters.**

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><p><strong>IMPORTANT- After some chapters, I'm sometimes going to explain things that I couldn't get into the chapter, like this one. This opening isn't as important as that, so if you skip this, at least read the bottom!<strong>

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 4<strong>_

Silence met Riley's announcement, the Guardians staring in disbelief.

"We're from a television show, " Nagihiko asked incredulously. Riley nodded meekly, feeling like an idiot.

"Can you prove it?" Amu demanded, still blushing. Truth be told, though, Amu kind of believed her. How else could she have known about her… not date… with Ikuto? Then again, seriously? A TV show? The pure ridiculousness of that statement was the only thing Amu from completely flipping out- a freaking TELEVISION SHOW?

Riley looked thoughtful for a moment then proceeded to tell the Guardians all she knew about them and the antics they had participated in. The Guardians all gaped at her. Even Rima.

"Okay…" Nagi said slowly. "Maybe you're telling the truth. But why are you here, in our world?"

"Oh, well. I'm just dreaming," Riley replied simply.

"Suure… So I guess this means you don't need us to explain about your chara, then," Nagi said with a slight smile. Riley blushed.

"Riley," Rima snapped, not looking up from her homework. Riley giggled.

"I think she likes you~" Riley singsonged quietly to Nagihiko, who blushed. She high-fived him then gave him two thumbs up. "You have my blessings! Go for it!"

"Well, Abel-sa-" Tadase began.

"Riley. Call me Riley."

His eyebrows knitted together. "Riley-san?"

"Ri-tan! Yaya's bored! Play with me!~"

"I guess so-"

But at that moment the bell rang and the guardians and Riley filed out, promising to meet up at lunch in the Royal Garden.

Riley's next class was math, then science. After that was cooking, which worked out well since lunch was after it. They were making cookies, which Riley knew would make Yaya happy.

Teagyn sat on Riley's shoulder, watching the other students until Rhythm and Temari came over to play, the three of them flying off. Only Nagi and Riley were in the class, and since she had explained to him that she knew he was Nadeshiko, he had let Temari out of her egg.

The teacher paired up Nagi and Riley, so they set about baking.

"Urgh…" Riley groaned, looking at the supplies cynically.

"What is it?" Nagihiko asked, tying on his apron. He picked up a whisk with a little smile and looked at the new girl skeptically. There was something about this girl he felt he could trust, maybe because she was a fellow bearer, but at the same time… well, she had popped up out of nowhere claiming to be from another world and that their whole life was on display for her world to see. The fact that one may be a little uncomfortable around her wasn't such a bad thing, considering.

"I've never really tried this cooking and baking thing," she explained. "I know how to make cereal, though" Riley added with a wistful look. Suddenly, a whisk appeared in her hand and Riley zoomed through the preparations, pausing only when there were little cookie dough drops up and down the cookie sheet. The whole class was staring. Riley blushed, looking down. Little green eyes met her yellow ones, which she glared into. The face popped out father from the bag and grinned, before flying out and landing next to cookie sheet to admire her handiwork. The chara had short, spiky brown hair and a little smirk. She had on a short green dress with black shorts peeking out from under it, in addition to a simple apron and knee-high boots.

She turned around, smiling hugely. "Name's Avery, born from your fear of trying new things and wish to exceed at them."

Nagihiko put the cookie sheet into the oven, pursing his lips at Avery, who was grinning, unrepentant. The girl had been around for only a day, had only gave birth to her eggs the day before, and they had already both hatched? How? Had whatever that had brought her to this world made that possible?

"Huh," Riley said, dazed. "Teagyn and Avery. My own Shugo Chara!"

With that happy thought came another, more disturbing one. How had she been asleep this long? Was it possible that this was not a dream?

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><p><strong>Me: Thanks to rosi345 and adri-chan for reviewing :D Your reviews make my day, peoples! <strong>

**OK. I promised an explanation. I'm sure ya'll (no, I'm not from the South. I just like saying that) are wondering why Avery's egg had a chefs hat, when she was born from a fear of trying new things. I think Avery is a little more complicated than her sister, so I may feel the need to explain for her a lot. Ok, so, this may be an over simplified explanation, but the chefs hat matches with her sisters pencil and paintbrush. Food is one of the things people are most afraid of trying, so that's why she got that on her egg. There isn't much else I could've done to match her sisters egg, and besides, that's the image I saw when I was writing the first chapter.**

**Avery: *smirk* I think you were just to lazy to come up with an original idea for my egg.**

**Me: Was not! **

**Teagyn: Now, now…. We don't need this negative energy…**

**Me: Yeah! Listen to the artist chara, Avery! Your negative energy's gonna bring bad things!**

**Riley: …. Since Aourie's busy fighting with imaginary characters, I guess I'll say this for her. If you go to Aourie's profile, you'll find a link for a picture of Teagyn and Avery, and their eggs.**

**Me: It's not that good, but it is a second draft and I usually don't bother with those, so don't be too hard on me****. OK. Since I know you want to be done with me, I'm just going to say that you should feel free to ask questions if your confused. Even if I explain some things, it may not be enough. Oh! Oh, and I have a companion fic to this one up now, "Even Enemies Like Fluff" (obviously a Rimahiko), which starts about a month before Riley shows up and will go until... well, halfway through this? You know what I've noticed is, when I write, my thoughts are pretty clear- like, they appear in order, but when I talk or do this script thingy, I jump around. So, sorry if these don't make much sense.**

**Riley: BYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEE! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Later, back in the Royal Garden, Riley introduced the Guardians to Avery, who smirked in reply, but was otherwise polite.

The charas flew off to play, leaving Riley with a heavy feeling in her gut. Now that the initial shock of her announcement had worn off, what would happen to her?

"Yaya smells cookies~"

"Oh, yeah. Here Yaya, I made some last class."

"Yay!" Yaya squealed, digging right in. Riley sweat dropped.

Tadase pursed his lips, taking in the newcomer. She was a little strange, that was true, but she had two charas. Then again, they didn't have an open chair for a new guardian, and even if they did, would she be able to charanari with either of her chara?

"What should we do, King?" Nagihiko asks.

"Well-" the King chair began, Ran's squeal interrupting him.

"Amu! An X-egg!"

The guardians were immediately up and running, leaving a stunned Riley behind. Shaking it off, she dashed after them.

Teagyn and Avery appeared over Riley's shoulder, Avery pouting and complaining about their game being interrupted.

"Hush," Riley chastised. Arriving at the scene, her eyes widened in shock. It wasn't just "one" X-egg. It was dozens, the black and white eggs flying around manically.

"I haven't seen this many X-eggs since before we defeated Easter," someone whispered.

Riley watched in amazement as the guardians began to character transform, the display something she hoped she remembered if she woke up. WHEN she woke up.

"Teagyn," Riley muttered, flinching when a blast of energy knocked Amu from the sky. At Teagyn's nod, Riley decided this was as good a time as ever to see if she could character transform. Riley and took a deep breath. And shouted, "My heart: Unlock!"

The transformation took less than a minute, but the feeling would forever be etched in her memory.

"Artists Dream!"

As the warmth subsided, Riley looked down in shock at her new appearance. She had on a black, mid-length vest-like shirt, and close fitting navy shorts. Black leggings went down to mid calf and she had on brown ankle boots. The vest and shorts were paint splattered.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Riley couldn't resist doing a little victory dance.

So. Cool!

Her thoughts were interrupted when someone shouted, "There's more of them! Where are they coming from?"

Following her instincts, Riley shouted, "Colorful Script!" as she ran to join the group, moving her fingers around in a circular motion. She watched in amazement as a rainbow of color surrounded the X-eggs, as though the air was a canvas she was finger painting upon. The voices of children's lost dreams rang out, the strange language of the X-eggs translated by the move.

"I'm no good… that's why I didn't make the team…"

"Why try. Everyone's better than me anyway…"

Riley wanted to cry at the hopelessness of the voices. What had caused all the children to lose their dreams? Riley swore she'd make that person pay.

Distracted by the smeared rainbow around them, the X-eggs bounced inside the circle crying out their pain. Nearly blinded by tears, Riley raised her arms, spreading her hands out so her thumbs touched, and shouted, "White Wash! Purify!"

A bright light encompassed the remnants of Colorful Script, spreading inward, the black X-eggs turning white as they came in contact with the white light. Riley gaped. Holy crap, had she done that? One of the X-eggs managed to escape, and zoomed towards Riley in anger. Amu rose her arms to purify it, but not before it managed to blast Riley with the inky black aura of a diseased dream, sending her flying back.

Her eyes went wide as she stared at the sky and watched the dreams of children fly off to return to their bearers. She felt tears prick behind her eyes and heard the guardians voices, but she ignored them. Because Riley had realized something when the X-egg's energy had blasted her, causing pain to encompass her.

This wasn't a dream.

**Me: What did I tell you, Avery? You're negative aura brought bad things!**

**Avery: It was your negative **_**Aourie **_**(pronounced aura) that did it. You're the author!**

**Me: … **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

There's a theory that the world we know is actually a dream and what we consider a dream is really our realty.

A wicked voice laughed in delight as she watched her little Experiment cry. It had taken a lot of crushed dreams to bring the experiment here- much more than they had just purified. So much so, that the Voice was debating whether she should bring in a new player, as she had originally planned. Finding the amount of children needed was such a bother.

Tilting her head, the Voice watched the brown-and-pink haired girl she had brought here with the help of her chara. The Experiment much exceeded the Voice's expectations. To have purified all those eggs, and in one move at that? The X energy needed for her trip must have effected her somehow, made her capable of things beyond the Voice's original intentions. Unconcerned by the thought that the Experiment's power could defeat her, the Voice laughed again. She longed to see what other surprises the Experiment had for her.

The Voice looked away from the Guardians and their charge, suddenly more interested in the X-eggs wreaking havoc in the city. _Yes_, the Voice thought with a small smile. _The Experiment would have time enough to prove her worth. Plenty opportunities, indeed._

"Yaya thinks Ri-tan should stay with her!" Yaya announced, raising a hand in the air.

Riley looked at Yaya in shock. "What are you talking about, Yaya?"

"Well, the way Yaya sees it," she explained, throwing a gummy bear in her mouth and talking around it, "if Ri-tan's from another place, she gots nowhere to stay, right?"

Riley blinked. "You're right. I totally forgot. I slept in the park last night."

"That's not safe!" Yaya exclaimed. "Yaya's brother might bother you, but you can stay with Yaya. And you can make Yaya more of those yummy cookies," she added with a childish grin.

Everyone sweat dropped. "So that's what you're after," someone muttered.

"Well," Riley began. "I do need someplace to stay. And I'm sure Avery would appreciate the excuse to bake…"

"Oh, sure, bring _me_ into it." Ignoring her, Riley smiled at Yaya. "Sure, thanks. I'd love to stay with you!"

"Yay!" Yaya shouted, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Moving on…" Amu said meaningfully. "Your transformation was amazing, Riley!"

Nagihiko nodded. "Good job, purifying those X-eggs."

"I wish we had an open seat for you," Tadase said sadly, adjusting his cape.

"Yeah, yeah! Good job, Ri-tan!" Yaya shouted.

Nagi elbowed Rima, who glared at him in response. "What the heck, cross dresser?"

"Cross dresser?" Amu asked, sweat dropping. Riley laughed, thinking they looked so cute together.

When Nagi just stared back, she sighed. "Yeah, you did fine. Happy now, cross dresser?" Nagihiko just gave her a little smile which made her blush.

Riley sighed, thinking about how much had already happened today and wishing there wasn't still two classes left.

Her eggs hatching, having her first character transformation, purifying those X-eggs. Realizing this wasn't a dream….

She just wanted the day to be over.

**Me: *sighs despondently***

**Teagyn: What's wrong?Me: Nobody really likes this story. Do they? ):**

**It's OK though. I'll keep updating. (:**

**Even if it's no good. I promise never to abandon a story (even if no one is actually reading it).**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Sadly, the rest of the day was not uneventful. Yaya convinced the group to bring her for ice cream and on the way they were met with another gaggle of X-eggs. With the help of the other guardians, Amu and Riley were able to purify all the X-eggs.

Afterwards, they finally got their ice creams. Well, most of them. Nagi and Rima got parfaits, sharing a special look. Noticing the time, Amu and Tadase said their goodbyes and left together. Rima, after getting a call from her mother, sighed and left, accepting Nagi's offer to walk her home. Riley gave him a huge grin and two thumbs up.

That left Yaya and Riley. Yaya was bouncing around on account of her sugar high, and Riley had a hard time wrangling her home. Sad thing was, though, that she was just so tired. Her rest the night before had not been ideal (she had slept on a park bench, after all) and she had character transformed twice in one day. So after finally arriving at Yaya's and politely refusing supper after introductions, Riley was on a spare cot in Yaya's room, ready to sleep.

"Yaya's glad you're here, Ri-tan," Yaya said sleepily.

Riley smiled ruefully. Though she was missing her mom, dad, and younger brother and sister, Hunter and Alli, Riley was glad to be there too. She voiced that feeling.

Yaya turned her head to look at Riley. "You have younger siblings, like Yaya?"

Riley nodded against her pillow, pushing her pink bangs out of her eyes. "They're twins. Hunter and Alli can be _so_ annoying, but I love them."

"Yaya knows how you feel," she replied sagely, causing Riley to laugh. Yaya looked back up at her ceiling, hugging a stuffed animal to her chest. "Yaya thinks we'll be good friends.…"

Riley blinked back tears, clearing her throat. "I think so, too, Yaya." She was just scared of what would happen when she returned home.

On the other side of the room, the charas watched their bearers, smiling. Even Avery had a small smile, instead of a smirk.

Whatever happened, these days would be some of Riley's favorite memories.

Thankfully, the next couple of days went by quietly. Soon enough, it was Sunday and the guardians and Riley were discussing what they wanted to do on their day off.

They were all at the Royal Garden, since it was really the only place (besides Yaya's house) that Riley knew.

"Who's this," a cool voice asked.

Amu screeched, jumping back as her face turned red. Ikuto smirked and began playing with Amu's pink hair, ignoring Tadase's glare. "Hmm? You didn't answer me. Who's this?"

Teagyn and Avery flew over to Riley, perching on her shoulders as they watched the newcomer.

"Abel Riley," Amu began.

"Call me Riley," Riley put in.

"She's new around here- she's from, um…"

"America," Riley piped up, knowing at she could admit that. There were stars in her eyes as looked between Amu and Ikuto. Neither Tadase nor Ikuto were favorite characters (**A/N: SORRY**), but if forced to choose. Like, if she was held at gunpoint, or something? Definitely Amuto. Not that she didn't like Tadase. It was just their relationship seemed forced to her. Silently (inside her head), Riley did a little cheer for Tadase to find love.

Back in the real world (or rather, real Shugo Chara world), Amu's face was tomato red but she hadn't moved, letting Ikuto play with her hair. "I-Ikuto, y-you PERVERT!" she stuttered, still unmoving.

The pervert in question smirked. "And yet you haven't moved. Do you like my pervyness?" Only then did she Amu jerk out of his hold, still stuttering insults as he chuckled.

As this was going on, Yoru flew over to inspect Riley's guardian characters, getting first in Teagyn's face (who blushed), and then Avery's. Avery smiled. "Well, hellooo…" she purred at a now blushing Yoru.

"Hey!" Miki complained. Avery smirked at her.

"Stop causing trouble, Avery," Riley scolded. Avery just shrugged and went to play with Pepe, who she had declared her favorite, to the annoyance of her sister, Teagyn.

Teagyn in turn, went over to Miki to discuss whatever she was currently drawing. She whistled low as she looked Miki's drawing with kind eyes, piquing Riley's interest.

Kukai sighed, putting his feet up on the table. He had been filled in earlier in the week on the situation and had insisted on joining them for the outing so he could meet Riley. Now, he was just bored. "Yo, Ikuto. Where's your sister?"

Ikuto glared at him. "Why do you-"

"Present," Utau called, raising a hand in greeting.

"Who _invited_ you two," Rima groaned.

Riley clapped a hand over her mouth, holding in her ever-present fan girl squeal. Hoshina Utau. So epic. Il and El immediately went off to do their own things (with Il, of course, bullying her sister).

Utau blinked, as though she had just realized Riley was there. "Who are you?"

Riley was about to reply when Avery flew in front of her face, looking scared. Her green eyes were wide. "Wha-"

"X-eggs. And a lot of them."

**Explanation time! So, Avery likes Pepe best because she's a baby character, and what's more frightening than being a new mother (not that I know personally)? As a chara born from a fear of new things and wish to excel at them, its only natural she'd gravitate towards Pepe. And Miki was drawing Yoru ;D**

**This was originally two chapters… until I realized how ridiculously short they were. I don't know how I managed to do that and let myself get away with it…. Anyway, because I've ended up putting chapters together more than once, the total 20 chapters is now down to 18. Might change again. Which brings me to fillers. I don't really have any, because I have no idea how to make a chapter where absolutely nothing happens for the plot. And while I know some people don't like fillers, I was thinking about writing bonus chapters, just so everything doesn't happen so fast, that are completely optional- however, I don't know what to do for them. So please send in suggestions, if you want bonus chapters ^^**

**In addition, I want to apologize for the late-ish update! We were busy all last week in preparation of my step-sister's wedding (which was BEAUTIFUL, by the way) so I never got to the library. I'm sorry! But I have a new one-shot, "Nippon no Kekkonshiki" that I got inspired for because of it (although there isn't really any similarity between her wedding and Rima's).**

**Kk, time for reviews~ my first since chapter 3 TT^TT**

**Birdy1564: Thank you! TT^TT You've renewed at least some of my pride for this awful story :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Where the hell are all these X-eggs coming from, Amu demanded.

"I'm getting too old for this," Kukai groaned.

"My heart: Unlock!" they all shouted. Riley watched in amazement, still not completely used to the fact that this was now her reality.

"Amulet Heart, Black Lynx, Lunatic Charm, Sky Jack, Clown Drop, Dear Baby, Beat Jumper!"

"wow…" she sighed before looking at Avery. Riley grinned. "Ready, Avery?"

"Heck, yeah!" she cheered, throwing a fist in the air.

"My heart: Unlock! Baker's Dream!"

That mystical feeling of warmth spread though her, bringing with it a profound sense of power. Riley looked down, eager to see her transformation with Avery. She had on a short flowy olive colored dress that cinched high up and had really short sleeves. In addition, she had laced up boots that went to her knees and one fingerless glove on her left hand. She also had a cute little chef's hat on her head, tilted to the side.

Because she was Riley, and she couldn't resist, she did a little victory dance (she could practically _HEAR_ Avery roll her eyes), then got serious, trusting her instincts. The Guardians were doing well enough. Of course they were. They were professionals. But there was just so many X-eggs, and more were coming.

"Lovely Recipe!" Riley shouted, bringing her gloved hand down sharply, a wooden spoon appearing in her grip. She twirled her wrist in circle, rounding up the X-eggs as though they were in a bowl. "Flash Freeze!" she continued, stopping the X-eggs in their tracks. She let go of her transformation with Avery, switching to Artist's Dream as she shouted to Amu.

"Got it!" Amu replied as she got ready for the move. "Negative Heart, Lock-On! - Open Heart!"

"White Wash! Purify!"

As the frozen X-eggs were purified, Riley wished she had used Colorful Script so she could hear their gratitude. As it were, she was just glad to save those children's dreams.

The Voice was very angry. After all those children, she still only had the Experiment. Maybe her ability to bring people over was exhausted? Despite the irrational anger at her failure, the Voice was also happy because the Experiment was proving to have more and more tricks up her sleeve.

The Voice turned to her guardian character with a vicious little smile. It shrank back, eyes wide with fear. The Voice liked to keep It that way, so It didn't try to talk the Voice out of her experiments.

"Are you ready, dear one?" the Voice asked, laughing as the chara shrank further into itself. "It's time for Stage Two of the Experiment."

There was a sense of uneasiness around the group after returning to the Royal Garden. So many children's heart's eggs were being ripped from them, their dreams shattered. How was this happening? Hundreds of eggs in only a matter of a few days; it was inconceivable. Especially with Easter defeated. A new enemy?

"Who would do this?" Riley asked, gazing off blankly into the distance. The flowers were so beautiful, she thought idly. So pure, like those children's heart's eggs. So undeserving of abuse. Tears pricked behind her eyes. What if this continued? And there were some they couldn't save? The tears fell.

"Hey…" Amu said, making Riley realize everyone was watching her. Teagyn and Avery landed on her shoulders, Avery offering her silent comfort while Teagyn patted Riley's cheek. "It's OK. We've all done this before. And, well, you've watched us, huh?" she asked with a little laugh.

Riley retuned the laugh, though it was a little sad. "Yeah, and you guys kick ASS."

Yaya puffed out her cheeks and shouted, in typical Yaya fashion, "Sad time's OVER! Yaya's bored~"

"Well," Riley suggested, smiling gently at her charas to show she was fine. "I do need some clothing." She looked down in explanation. She was still wearing the clothes she had arrived to this world in: a black T-shirt with a grinning cherry, dark blue jeans, and black and red converse.

"Oh yeah, Yaya forgot," Yaya exclaimed suddenly. "Ri-tan doesn't have anything besides her uniform!"

"At least I was wearing shoe's when whatever happened, happened," Riley replied with an eye roll.

"What do you mean?" Utau asked. The guardians, Kukai, and Riley exchanged glances.

Riley blew out a breath after a moment. "Don't freak out," she ordered, then went on to explain the situation: how they were from a TV show, and how she had been transported here.

Utau blinked, giving the younger girl a strange look. "Well… anyone else, and you'd be labeled a nut. But hey, we'd be considered crazy if we talked about our guardian characters, so who are we to talk?"

"Let's go~" Yaya demanded.

Rima glanced at her phone. "Actually, those X-eggs took up so much time that I need to go now."

"Ahhh…" Yaya whined.

"Sorry, Yaya."

"I need to leave, too," Nagihiko piped up. Rima blushed.

Eyes widening, Riley shook out her hands and jumped up and down from foot to foot. "High-five, Nagi!" she shouted. Everyone sweat dropped and looked at her funny.

"Uh, okay…?" he replied, hesitantly returning the high-five. Riley gave him her patented thumbs up, causing him to sigh as he realized what her deal was. He was quickly recognizing the sign.

"Alright, let's go!" Riley shouted, raising a fist in the air. Yaya mimicked the pose, shouting her agreement. Everyone else sweat dropped. They made quite a pair.

Later that day, after supper, Yaya and Riley collapsed in their beds, tuckered out from the X-egg fighting and shopping.

"Tsubasa's cute," Riley commented sadly. "I miss Hunter and Alli."

"You can borrow Yaya's brother until you go home," she suggested. "You can't keep him, though!"

"Thanks Yaya," Riley replied with a laugh.

The silence lasted for a little while. "Yaya thinks Ri-tan shouldn't worry. Everything will get better."

Riley agreed, but she knew that before things got better, it could only get worse.

**Me: …. We're down to 17 chapters. I'm soooo sorry my chapters are so short D: But this was my first "chapter" story, in addition to my first fan fiction, and while that isn't much of an excuse, I hope you can forgive me ^_^'**

**Riley: WHAA!**

**Me: *flinch* What the heck?**

**Riley: YOU FORGOT ABOUT ME!**

**Me: Did not…. I swear to the gods, these author's notes are longer than the chapter! I need to cut back… not to mention, my scripts are B-O-R-I-N-G! So I'm only going to do them if I feel inspired….**

**Anyway~ no reviews, and I'm gonna take that to mean no Bonus Chapters. If you want one, feel free to PM me or review, but I'm not going to ask again.**

**Riley: *sniff, sniff….* I'm so lonely….**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

It was the next day, during lunch. Yaya was happily munching on brownies, and the other guardians were doing what homework they had at that point. Well, Amu and Riley were. Tadase, Rima, and Nagihiko were suspiciously absent. It was worrisome, the constant fear of another swarm of X-eggs niggling at the back of everyone's minds.

"I've been thinking," Amu said lightly, glancing up from her homework.

"Oh, no! Don't do that!" Riley said in mock horror. Amu glared at her until Riley grinned and nodded at her, gesturing she continue.

"About how exactly you got here. What could've happened?"

Riley had been thing about that too, and she had a horrible feeling that she was the cause of the sudden increase in X-eggs. Whether this was because of the occurrence that had brought her here, or if her presence had done it, she had yet to determine. Nevertheless, she was scared. Scared and angry. Scared that she was the catalyst for so many children's lost dreams. And angry at the powers that be for allowing her to be brought over if indeed she was the cause.

She smiled tightly at Amu, trying to hide her gloomy thoughts. There was nothing she could do, whichever may be the case, other than help the children regain their dreams. It was a heavy burden for a twelve year old to bear, and she's only been fighting this secret war for a week. She had a new found respect for her heroes to have been doing this for as long as they had, as successfully as they had.

Amu took the poorly leashed emotions the wrong way. "We'll find a way to get you home. It'll be sad when you go, but we'll always remember the good times we've shared."

Riley was about to reply when Tadase walked into the Royal Garden, followed by a white haired girl.

"This is my girlfriend," he said without preamble.

"Your what?" Amu shouted.

Tadase blinked, confused. "My girlfriend, Suzuki-san."

Cue sweat drop. "Even his girlfriend," someone muttered.

"Suzuki Keiko," the girl introduced herself. "And this is my chara, Hiroko-chan."

Riley blinked. They were like night and day. Keiko had blonde hair so light it looked white, and shiny, scarlet eyes. Since they were in school, Keiko had on her uniform, but she wore a delicate silver locket. Hiroko, on the other hand, had huge black ringlets, green eyes, and a cautious but exuberant demeanor. She wore goggles atop her head, a short white coat that hinted at a black unitard, and white flats. Hiroko blinked her cautious eyes at her bearer and at Keiko's short nod, flew off to meet the other charas.

"How'd you two meet?" Riley asked, since everyone else seemed too shocked to speak.

Keiko smiled serenely, totally at ease with everyone's stares. "He saw my chara and started asking me questions. He was getting annoying, so I shut him up with a kiss and asked if he wanted to be my boyfriend. He said yes, of course, and here we are."

Riley sweat dropped. Okaaay… Not what she had expected from here sweet face, but her mom _had_ always told her not judge a book by its cover. Avery sighed dreamily, shocking Riley. "Ah, love."

Riley smirked at her. "Never took you for a romantic, Avery."

"Sh- shut up!" Avery stuttered, blushing. As the other charas chided her, Riley turned her attention to Keiko. She tilted her head, feeling like there was something off about her. It felt almost as if she knew her.

At that moment, Rima and Nagihiko walked in hand-in-hand. Riley gaped. "Whoo! Hell Yeah! Go Nagi!" she shouted, putting her hands up for both Rima and Nagihiko to high-five. They ignored her, releasing their entwined hands instead. "Damn," she pouted, giving them a put-upon look.

"Why is everyone hooking up today?" Amu demanded.

"It's love~" El said out of nowhere.

"What the- What are you doing here? Where's Utau?" Amu asked.

"I don't know," El pouted. "Il was being mean so I left."

"Right…" Riley said slowly, feeling a little bad for El but knowing her running away was nothing new. She turned to Keiko, instead. "So, Keiko-"

"Call me Suzuki. That's really rude, to assume you can just call me by my given name," she said coldly.

Riley blinked, feeling her mood shift like she had stepped into a freezer. "Sorry," she apologized, equally as coldly. Hey, she didn't like being talked down to. "I'm from America. To me it's normal to use one's given name-"

"Well, not here," Keiko interrupted. We-hell, Riley thought rudely. Obviously, she and Keiko weren't going to be besties.

"Point taken," Riley mumbled, trying to regain an amiable tone. Treat others as you'd like to be treated. "Well, Suzuki-san. What I was _trying_ to ask was what your dream was. How was Hiroko-chan born?"

"Oh," Keiko replied cheerfully. Riley was starting to hate her mood swings. On Amu, it was endearing. Keiko just seemed like she thought she was better than anyone else, and chose her tone accordingly. Again, that feeling of recognition niggled at her memory. "I want to be an engineer. Like my dad. But my mom says that since I'm a girl, I can't. Then one day, Hiroko-chan shows up and tells me I can do anything!"

Riley tried _really_ hard to feel bad for Keiko, she really did. Her own mother had told her her dream was impossible because of her gender? That just wasn't right! But for some reason, she just couldn't. Who _was_ she?

**I think its obvious…. Love is a new thing….**

**Reviews:**

**Kitty13492: Thank you ^^ I'm so glad people thinks so. I'm going to try to be less negative -_-**

**Sorry for short chapter…. The next chapter is important, and I couldn't just mix the two…. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_A voice was laughing at her. Riley tried to escape, but she was held immobile. Whose voice was that? It sounded so familiar! Abruptly, Riley remembered something she had repressed._

_She was at her computer, humming along to "Minna no Tamago", procrastinating her homework. She had a five paragraph essay she really needed to get started on, but she had no idea what to do for it. Suddenly, she was struck by a monster headache. Her hands flew up to her head, eyes closing tight. The pain spread out, moving down her face, out her arms and throughout her body. She wanted to scream, the pain was that intense, but no sound would came out. Her vision whited out and she felt herself falling. There was a maniacal laughter, echoing throughout her being, and Riley knew it was somehow the source of this agony._

_The Voice that had been laughing silences, and turned thoughtful. Riley had a feeling she should've passed out completely by now and the Voice felt safe in It's musings. 'So many eggs,' It murmured. Riley couldn't tell if it was a girl or a boy. It was too distorted by evil. 'Such beauty found in a broken dream,' It continued, cackling. Riley felt sick, a feeling that had nothing to do with the all over ache that was even now pulling her under into a deep sleep. 'I'll let the Guardians handle the rest of you. You're mine…'_

Riley woke up harshly, gasping for air. Remnants of phantom pain radiated throughout her body. Were there more people like her, from another world? What had the Voice meant when it said let the Guardians handle the others? Riley knew that after hearing that, she had finally succumbed to darkness, only to awake at the school. If only she could have lasted a few more moments. Then maybe she'd have known.

Riley blew out a breath, knowing there was nothing she could do about it now. Turning her head, she looked at Yaya's bed to make sure she hadn't woken her. Glad her nightmare- night memory- hadn't woken the girl, Riley resumed her inspection of the ceiling. The tears came on suddenly, and she turned on her side, away from Yaya, and curled into a ball. She silently sobbed, letting the weight of the world crash down on her shoulders.

The dream only confirmed her suspicions. She was the cause of all those X-eggs. And it wasn't going to stop, not anytime soon. Not until they found the Voice, and put a stop to it. She wasn't only crying for the children, either. She had shed plenty tears for them during her week in Seiyo. Now, she cried also for her family, something she had yet to do. She had worried, of course, and pined, but those were selfish emotions, ones in which she thought only of how _she_ wanted to see her family. The tainted tears falling over her cheeks now were for, yes, the children whose dreams were being played with by the maniacal Voice, but also for her family. Did time move differently back home? Had a week passed? A month? Years? Or was everything just as she had left it, unmoved? That was too much to hope for. How her family must be grieving.

Riley cried for a long time, during which she promised to not shed another tear until the Voice was stopped.

Eventually, she fell asleep.

Yaya stared at her wall, listening to her new friend's sobbing. Riley seemed to be in so much pain, but Yaya had no idea what to do for Ri-tan. The pear girl was really nice to Yaya, making her cookies and everything! But Yaya's baby character wasn't really good at giving the solace she often wanted. It wasn't in her character, at least not for the kind of comfort Yaya was sure Ri-tan needed. Sometimes, Yaya concluded, crying was the best way to feel better. Yaya didn't really like that plan, but some people didn't like others knowing they cry, and Yaya was right there. In the next bed. If Ri-tan needed her… she would have asked Yaya for help, right? Yaya squeezed her plush toy, curling her legs up. She lay in the darkness, listening worriedly to Ri-tan's crying. Though her eyes were heavy, she forced them to stay opened just in case Riley needed her.

As the minutes dragged on, Yaya wondered how they all become such fast friends. There wasn't much reason for it, it just kind of happened. Ri-tan came with her two chara to talk with the Guardians… and soon she was always showing up and she was just part of the group. It had only been a couple of weeks. Maybe that was why it was so easy to befriend her… she knew so much about them all. Yaya just liked her cookies at first. Yum. After a while, Riley went quiet and Yaya felt herself losing the battle against her eyes. _It wasn't about the cookies anymore_, Yaya thought as she drifted to sleep.

**Pear girl= Ri (Japanese for pear according to behind the name). I wanted so bad to put that in here….**

**One silent reviewer, thank for your love :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The sun was shining and the breeze was soft. An altogether nice day, Riley could admit, one in which children screamed their joy and the wind gently ruffled your hair. However, Riley was unable to enjoy it. The stark beauty of a Japanese spring was dimmed by her melancholy mood. She may have promised not to cry, but the resolution only went so far. It was still her fault…

Riley lay on her back, staring blankly at the clouds. That one kind of reminded her of Kusukusu. And that one looked like Yoru. She knew she was trying to make herself forget. Forget about all they had to lose if they didn't find the Voice from her dream. That didn't stop her from numbing out her mind under the blue sky.

Earlier that day, at the Royal Garden, Riley had described her dream to the Guardians. Because of the insanity of the whole situation, the details hadn't been that far of a stretch. Ideas on what to do immediately sprang up, but really, what _could_ you do? The only thing they had to go on was a voice only Riley would recognize. There wasn't even a clue as to where to begin the search. Which is what they need to start doing. Searching, that is. Like, yesterday.

"Abel-san?" a voice asked.

"Hotori-kun," Riley replied. She wasn't completely comfortable using his given name in conversation since he refused to use hers. She didn't look away from the clouds. It was like they were a lifeline. The thin, intangible string kept Riley from jumping over the edge into depression. It was like the dream had flipped some switch. The clouds gave her a reason to believe, to live. They reminded her of the flighty nature of a child's dream. Always changing until it found that one puzzle piece that fit them perfectly, resulting in something beautiful. Like rain and snow.

"Forgive me," he started, moving his face into her line of vision. His violet eyes were worried and one of those random hairs fell into his face. Uncomfortable with him standing over her, Riley sat up and moved over for him to join her. "You seemed so… different today. Distant."

"Sorry," she replied vaguely, looking back up at the sky.

"No, you're not," he said sharply. Shocked, Riley's gaze flipped to him. His tone softened, becoming more Tadase-like. "I know how you're feeling. You're feeling like the fate of the world is depending on you, and that you couldn't possibly live up to it. Am I correct?"

"How did you know?" Riley asked, surprise evident in her tone. Now that the feeling had been voiced, Riley realized that that _was_ her problem. What if she failed? What if, when the time came, she didn't recognize the Voice and because she wasn't good enough, people suffered? She was only twelve, for the god's sakes!

Tadase nodded knowingly, turning his fascinating eyes to look at the heavenly clouds that had held her earthbound all day. "As a human being, we all feel like that. Like we're not good enough. As King? Well, we're about the same age. Take what you're feeling from your sudden responsibility. Not only have I been in your situation with Easter and Tsukiyomi Ikuto, I practically run the school. I have all these people who look up to me. I have never been the most confident soul -it's why I have Kiseki- so the pressure weighs down on me."

"Tadase…" Riley murmured unknowingly.

He gave her a small smile. "I'm not looking for pity. Like I said, I want you to know you're not alone in how you feel."

Riley smiled at him, the first real smile all day. "Thank you so much, Tadase-kun."

He was right, so right. She wasn't alone. Everyone felt helpless at some point in their life. But you could prevail. _She_ could prevail. And she would. Somehow, someway, she, _they_, would fix this. Riley realized, with a start, something she had conveniently forgotten. She wasn't alone. The phrase rang through her mind, over and over. She had certainly felt alone when she had awoken that morning. Now, she knew the truth.

"Thank you so much, Tadase-kun," she repeated.

He smiled back at her, then they both looked back up at the clouds, beauty restore once more. Because everything was going to be okay.

**This chapter is dedicated to you Tadase fans. Every character has its good points, and even though I wrote this chapter when I still hated him, all those weeks ago, I wanted to show his. (BTW, I like him now :P)**

**Reviews~**

**Cupcake-chan: ch1: Why does everyone always forget Riley's name? D: But thank you so much :D Knows what? :O She's knows a lot of things, but I don't know exactly what your hinting at -_-;;**

**Anonymous: Thank you so much for the kind words, and believing in me. I'm never going to give on a story, and as you can see, Riley is ready to get back to her normal self and prevail. Thank you so much.**

**We're over half-way done, and I want to say my thanks to any who have stuck with me from the beginning, and those who came later but will stick with me until the end. Thank you all, so much.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm SOOO SORRY! My last update was my new chapter for What You Don't Know. I messed up the upload for this story :( And didn't even realize it until now :(**

**Chapter 12**

The next month passed in a blur, which Riley was glad for. It meant X-egg activity was minimal. It was just a month of getting to know each other better and becoming better friends. Everyone knew, in the back of their minds, that this wasn't forever. So they enjoyed every minute they could together.

Now was not one of those minutes. Riley sighed as she wandered the streets with Teagyn and Avery as silent shadows. The Guardians had business to attend to (some paper filing thing that had Yaya whining and Riley bored out of her mind), and Amu had to baby sit Ami. Which left Riley on her own, which she supposed was fine. Even after a month and a half in Seiyo, she had yet to grow tired of just looking around and taking in her surroundings.

After that talk with Tadase, Riley had felt much better. Depression had not tried to dig its cold claws in her again, for which she was glad. Rima and Nagi's relationship hadn't changed much since they started dating, either, as was to be expected from them. They still fought. Like, a lot. Riley doubted that would ever change. They were still so cute together. Cue fan girl squeal (haven't heard that in a while, huh?). Yeah, all in all the last month had been uneventful.

"Abel-san!" a voice called.

"Oh! Suzuki-san!" Riley replied in shock after turning to see the blonde girl.

"How _are_ you?" Keiko gushed, instantly making Riley anxious. She and Keiko were definitely not best friends. In fact, if Riley had an evil bone in her body she'd say they were enemies, though Riley didn't understand why she and Keiko had taken such an immediate disliking of each other.

"Uh… fine?" Riley hedged.

"Wow, that's good!" she replied, oblivious. "Do you want to hang out? Tadase-kun's busy," Keiko pouted.

"Sure?" Who was this chick?

"Great! Come on!"

Riley hesitantly followed her, confused. "So… where are we going?"

"There's a surprise concert today at the mall. Utau Hoshina-sama is playing! I'm a big fan!"

"Utau-chan?" Riley was instantly in "fan girl" mode. Utau hung out with them a lot because of Kukai (actually, she was around more often than Keiko), but Riley had never gotten the chance to hear her sing in person.

Keiko's eyebrow twitched. "You really are rude," she mumbled before adopting a sweet tone again. "Are you close to Utau-sama? I've seen her around a lot when I've come to see Tadase-kun."

Riley blinked, ignoring her question. "Sama?" She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. It was easy for Riley to forget Utau was famous sine they were friends of sorts, but was -sama necessary, even for a celebrity? "Ah… what was your question? Oh yeah. We're kind of friends. Not like she is with the others, but I'm comfortable in saying we're more than casual acquaintances.

"You're so _lucky_," Keiko gushed. Riley puffed out her cheeks, trying to reign in her frustration. Keiko's mood swings were so annoying. Riley blinked, realizing something.

"Where's Hiroko-chan?"

A cold look cam into Keiko's eyes but left so quickly Riley wondered if she had imagined it. "She's in her egg," she answered cheerfully. "She doesn't like to come out much."

"Oh."

The silence was kind of awkward, and for once in her life Riley had no idea how to fill it. There was just something off about Keiko, something she instinctively didn't like. It was a new feeling for Riley. Keiko hadn't done anything to deserve ill feelings.

After a couple minutes of tense silence between the two, they arrived at the mall. A crowd was growing. Obviously the "secret" had been let out. Then again, it was hard to keep it a surprise when everything was set up for a concert.

"Riley! Keiko-chan!" Amu shouted. Riley saw her running towards them, tugging Ami behind her. When she arrived, she was a little out of breath but Ami had stars in her eyes. "I didn't think I'd see you here! Utau invited me last minute, and when Ami found out it was game over."

"Will Ikuto be here?" Riley asked with mischievous smile. Amu blushed.

"H- how would I know?" she stuttered "A- anyway, how would you like to go backstage with us? I'm sure Utau wouldn't mind.

Now Keiko had stars in her eyes. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose on Utau-sama."

"Why do you respect her so much?" Riley asked, genuinely curious. Keiko always seemed so into herself, but whenever Utau was mentioned she did a 360 and became a much more likeable person.

"Because she's a girl," Keiko answered, as if it were obvious.

"Which means…?" Riley asked, twirling her wrist in the symbol for elaborate.

"She's a girl," Keiko repeated. "I told you how I got Hiroko-chan. It was when I was doubting my dream, but also when I was most sure of it? If that makes sense? Like, I was doubting my ability, but I was most set on achieving my dream. My brother, he was never doubted. But as the daughter, I was always told I couldn't do the things a boy can. Utau-sama, she's achieved so much more than I can ever hope for. Even though she's a girl! That's why I respect her so much."

"You don't really believe that," Riley said.

"What?" Keiko asked incredulously.

"You don't really believe you can't achieve you dream, just because you're a girl. Otherwise, Keiko wouldn't have been born."

Keiko blinked her scarlet eyes. "You're pretty perceptive, I'll give you that. For that, you may use the honorific -chan when speaking to me."

"Thanks," Riley replied wryly.

"Let's go!" Ami shouted, interrupting the Oh so fuzzy moment (NOT).

Amu laughed and tipped her head towards the stage. "C'mon. She'll be starting soon, so we should go."

The backstage was a bustle of activity, people running here and there. In the center of it all was Utau, calm as ever. Her hair was in her patented pigtails and she wore a black dress with pink lace on the hem and sleeve, and white ribbon crisscrossing down the back. She smiled when she saw Amu.

"When do you start?" Amu asked, while Ami stood star struck, little diamond sparkles literally floating around her awestruck face.

"Couple of minutes. Glad you could make it." She looked at her other guests and tilted her head. "You too," she added with a practiced smile. Her gaze locked on Keiko, the same unexplainable emotion Riley often felt in the girl's presence glittering in her eyes. Distrust.

Oblivious, Keiko gushed, "Utau-sama! I'm such a big fan!"

"I've seen you before. You're dating Tadase, aren't you?"

Keiko's eyebrow twitched. She forced a smile back on her face and nodded. "Yeah."

"Huh," Utau said, her gaze unwavering.

"It's show time!" someone called.

"Well, that's my cue," Utau said with a smile. "See you after the concert?"

She ran off, not waiting for an answer. Her retreating back felt like a sign to Riley. Like the good times were over. She just didn't know why, or how she knew.

**Reviews~**

**4re8e8: Oh my goddess, I'm so sorry D: I hadn't realized what you meant, but when I was getting ready for the new update something made me check and I realized what I did.**

**Because of my major "what-the-heck" moment, you're gonna get two chaps this week…. I'm so sorry :(**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The Voice was not happy. Things were not going as she had planned. Too many mistakes… It was time to put an end to the Experiment. When the girl was alone and those pesky Guardians weren't around. She supposed it was time to rid herself of them, too, but she had grown quite fond of… her ability to maneuver them like pawns in a chess game.

"M-master," the Voice's chara whimpered. Weak, so weak. It knew not of the vast importance of Its bearer's plans. It had so many misplaced morals. Ha! Like anyone cared about _them_. Why should they extend to others a courtesy denied to them?

The Voice ignored the chara. It was another reason she hated the Experiment and the Guardians. How they _cared_ for others. They would be appalled to learn of the Voice's treatment of the Thing. Weak, worthless. Pointless. The Voice laughed. _She_ wasn't worthless, pointless. She _wasn't. _Who was the one in control? The One on the Pedestal surely wasn't. No, that who will not be named was broken, as should be the case. The Voice deserved so much more than that person. Which is why the Voice had said person's heart's egg, the last of those that had brought the Experiment to their world. The Voice wondered what would happen if she broke the captive X-egg. Would the Experiment be sent home? The Voice believed that to be so. Someday soon, after she rid herself of the Experiment in a more permanent way, she'd break the Almighty's egg.

It had once been a guardian character. The Voice knew this. Hers and the Almighty's charas had been friends. That made them weak. Friends were pointless. Nevertheless, her chara's eyes were pleading. It wanted It's bearer to free It's friend. Unlikely. The laugh the Voice gave out was pure insanity. There was no going back to Before. When things had been good.

The chara cried out in pain when her bearer left her behind in the cold room with her old friend, the sting of her parting slap lingering. Looking at her bearer's back as she swept out of the room, the chara began to cry. She just wanted to be gone. How could someone as twisted as the Voice be gifted with a Shugo chara?

Gone, gone, gone. The word was a mantra that was always playing in her mind. Her bearer knew her thoughts. That's why her egg was never left with her unless she was inside it, and even then her bearer guarded it carefully. It wasn't because her bearer cared. No, her bearer didn't feel. She just didn't want to lose so powerful a weapon.

The chara looked over at the X-egg that once been green with a little rocket on it. It's bearer was elsewhere in the house, a lifeless husk. The chara called up her memory of her dearest friend: he had had red hair, one green eye and one blue and a lab jacket. He had always had a smile, no matter what. Now, the chara doubted she'd ever see that smile again.

Suddenly, and idea struck her, one she wished she had thought of sooner. Even though she knew that if her plan worked she's still never see his smile, because her bearer would lose her dream and she'd be gone as she so desperately wanted to, at least he and his bearer would get the life they deserved.

²

"Amu~" Yaya whined. "Why didn't you tell Yaya Utau-chi was performing?"

"Sorry, Yaya," Amu replied, smiling softly at her childish friend. She didn't know where she'd be without her friends. Speaking of… "Riley, what's wrong?"

Riley glanced up from her homework. "I'm going to be leaving soon."

Amu's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I can feel it," Riley replied, looking skyward. "Something really big's gonna happen, and then I'll be gone. I've been here almost two months, and they have been some of the best of my life, but I miss my family."

All the Guardian's eyes were sad as they took that in. Over the past couple of days, the feeling of impending loss had hung over each and every one of them, so they understood what she meant. The time was coming. Until then, however, no one had wanted to voice the feeling.

"Tadase-kun!" came Keiko's now familiar voice from outside the Royal garden, disrupting the moment.

Riley was immediately on edge, and she hated that Keiko had that effect on her. From the beginning, though, she had felt a kind of tainted connection. If only she knew why. The feeling of disgust grew as Keiko's chara carefully asked to play with the others. She was scared. That was _not _something a chara should feel around her bearer. Riley tried to tamp down her ill feelings. She made a habit of forgive and forget, and the feelings that refused to disappear were…. No words came to mind as Riley realized something she had somehow missed….

Hiroko paused next to the other Shugo chara. There once was a time when she wouldn't have hesitated to strike up a conversation, but after Haru had gone back into his egg she had been uncomfortable around other chara. But today, she was on a mission.

"What's wrong, desu?" Su asked Hiroko.

"Yeah, cheer up!" Ran cheered.

Hiroko smiled at the chara she almost considered her friends, if she could've had any. She wished she could just enjoy their time together, the only bright part of her day. But she had a mission. Keiko was too conceited to have ever planned for this outcome.

"I know how Riley got here," she said quickly, before she lost her nerve.

"You do?" Avery asked incredulously.

Hiroko nodded, eyes glued to the table.

"How, Hiroko-chan?" Teagyn asked softly, putting a small hand on Hiroko's shoulder.

"Keiko did it. She made me chara change her and she made this- machine," Hiroko began, tears in her eyes. After everything Keiko had done -done to _her_- Hiroko still loved her bearer, and it was tearing her apart.

"It took the heart's eggs of children, and after putting an X on them, took their energy, and somehow brought Riley into our world. She tried to bring more, but it didn't work. Or maybe it did, but your bearers got all the X-eggs before she got one, and they were sent back.

"What are you saying?" Teagyn asked cautiously.

"I know how to send her back home. She kept one of the X-eggs that brought her here - her brother's chara, and my best friend, Haru. If you purify it, Riley will go home. That's the hypothesis, at least," Hiroko added, her scientific nature kicking in.

"Keiko's the one who made those X-eggs?" Miki exclaimed.

"Keep up, dechu," Pepe grumbled.

Hiroko nodded anyway, tears falling freely. "Tell your bearers when we leave. Keiko can't find out I told you. This will probably be the last time I'll see you all and I… I just want to say, I consider you all my friends… a- and yeah. Just… save Haru."

"What do you mean, the last time-"

Hiroko shook her head, not even realizing who had spoken. "This is going to crush Keiko, and I'll go back into my egg. But this more important than me, or her. This is to stop her from making more X-eggs, even if I turn into one."

"Hiroko-chan!" Teagyn exclaimed, concerned.

"Please. Just tell your bearers. Please…"

The other charas looked at each other, torn, but they knew what they needed to do.

**Again, I'm sorry :(**

**Anyway, the Voice has been revealed -_-;;; Though I guess it was obvious….**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"I can't believe Suzuki-san…" Tadase said in a daze.

"… made all those X-eggs!" Amu finished, staring at her charas in disbelief.

"It's true! Hiroko said so herself!" Ran exclaimed.

"What are we going to do?" Yaya asked fretfully.

"Only thing we can do," Rima replied with a careless shrug. Nagihiko nodded.

Riley nodded as well, the only one completely sure in what needed to be done. Even before the charas had flown up to them at Seiko's departure, Riley had finally realized why she didn't like the girl. She was the Voice from her dreams, which had been recurring since the first time.

"It's the middle of the day," Tadase said slowly, as though he was thinking of a plan as he talked. "As soon as school is out, we can head over to Suzuki-san's home. If Hiroko-chan is to believed, the X-egg will be held in Keiko's room. We purify it, and Riley will be sent home…"

The last sentence hung in the air.

"I'm going home tonight," Riley said in shock, reality setting in. It was her last day in Seiyo. The last day she'd talked to her friends. The last time she slept over at Yaya's and played with Tsubasa. Tears sprang in her eyes. The last time she'd see Teagyn and Avery. The aforementioned charas flew over to their bearer and hugged her cheeks. Oh gods.

"We'll never forget you, Riley," Rima said softly, which for some reason meant the most to Riley. Maybe because she so rarely showed emotions like that.

"I won't ever forget you guys either," riley replied around her tears. She knew this with such certainty that she felt better about leaving. Time moved on, but memories were forever. So she'd remember the happy times, not this sad time; that picture she had painted of Amu and Ikuto, the sleepovers with Yaya, that time she watched a comedy with Rima and laughed not at the show, but of Rima's reaction to it, baking with Nagi, the concert with Amu and the party afterwards with Utau. And that talk with Tadase, which she would always hold dear: you are not alone.

As soon as school ended, the guardians met up and left for Keiko's house. They didn't know what they'd find so they had called for Utau, Kukai, and Ikuto to join them. Better safe than sorry.

Keiko lived in a big house, with three stories and a big lawn. Obviously, her family had money. It looked like no one was home, so they carefully made their way up the walkway to the front door. The door was unlocked, which earned wary glances between the group, but they moved on. They were prepared for anything.

"_What_ are you doing in my house?" a voice shrieked. OK. Maybe not everything. Dang, how could they have forgotten about Keiko? Well, that was easy. She wasn't supposed to be home. She had cleaning duty.

"Suzuki-san!" Tadase said quickly. "We were going to surprise you! It's our one month anniversary, and I wanted to do something special!" Quick thinking.

Her gaze softened. "Oh, Tadase-kun! You did remember! When you didn't mention anything when I came by earlier, I thought you had forgotten!" Tadase sweat dropped. Uhmm… Maybe he hadn't realized it really was their anniversary? She gasped. "Utau-sama? You got Utau-sama to sing for me? Tadase-kun!"

Hiroko peeked around the doorframe, eyes anxious. The silent message was clear: don't fail. She quickly disappeared before her bearer noticed her.

Utau nodded, eyes brightening with a plan. "Yeah. I'm here to sing to you. Could you show me to your room?"

Keiko flushed, looking nervous. "Uh… Can't we do this in the living room?"

"No, no. It needs to be done this way," she said stubbornly. The Guardians, Riley, Kukai and Ikuto sweat dropped. She definitely knew how to play the pop star.

"O-OK. I just need to… oh… clean up a bit in there first… if you would… excuse me…" Keiko said slowly, edging away from the group. She made a dash for her room and the group was fast on her heels. She tried to slip into her room, but not before Utau saw the gruesome machine against the wall, holding the X-egg.

"You… monster," Utau whispered, her voice breaking as if remembering how many X-eggs had met a similar fate because of her. Her eyes were haunted.

"Utau-sama," Keiko pleaded. "You don't understand!"

"Oh, I understand _completely_," she spat. "You're twisted. People's dreams aren't _toys_."

Keiko's expression closed up, becoming vicious. "Twisted? Do you want to know _twisted_? It's twisted that because I'm a girl, I don't deserve the same respect as a boy does. And the one thing that makes me more special than my brother? My guardian character? Turns out, he has on too, and had had his for years. He _always_ one ups me. He deserves this!" she screamed.

"That's your brother's egg?" Riley asked, stricken. She could never do this to her siblings. Neither Hunter nor Alli, no matter what happened. It was inconceivable.

"You!" Keiko snarled, turning on her. "My little Experiment. You're such a failure. I was going to kill you, anyway, but I guess it's going to happen sooner, rather than later. Hiroko! Charanari!"

"No!" Hiroko moaned.

"My heart: Unlock!"

**Reviews:**

**jouhime: Ye' boi! :D That's the spirit! (people tell me the phrase is ye' buddy, but I like that better….)**

**AngelicHonesty: Riley is not me. At all. She isn't who I want to be. She looks different, acts different, likes a different type of guy (think… Lee Jong Suk in Secret Garden, his kind of style). Plus, I'm seventeen, not twelve. Yes, I know this type of story is cliché. It was my introductory story, and I wanted an easy way in. I knew I could do this, which says a lot since most of my stories don't even make it to one full page on WIDE rule. I'm thankful you think its good, and I understand what you mean, but if Riley comes off as Mary-sue-ish, I can't help that. I've tried to do things to take some of that away, but the fact of the matter is, for someone who had hard enough time writing stories to completion, I was scared to take the time to build relationships and lose interest. Thank you for the honest judgment, and I too hate Mary-sue-y characters, but again, sometimes you just don't see when its blaringly obvious to others.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Hiroko! Charanari!"

"No!" Hiroko moaned.

"My heart: Unlock!"

"She can character transform?" Amu exclaimed. It couldn't be possible… Very few people could.

"Engineers Dream!"

"Such an unoriginal name…" Riley muttered. At her friend's glares, she raised an eyebrow. "What? Comic relief."

"This whole situation is comic relief," Avery replied, rolling her eyes. "One against eight? Puh-lease."

"Don't ignore me!" Keiko shouted. In her character transformation, she had her hair up in a pig tail with goggles atop her head. In addition, she wore a short white jacket that kind of resembled a lab jacket, but more fashionable. On her feet, she had on white flats. "Clockwork Mechanics!"

"Unlock my heart!" the others shouted. "Amulet Spade, Seraphic Charm, Sky Jack, Baker's Dream, Beat Jumper, Clown Drop, Black Lynx, Dear Baby!"

Keiko's attack wrapped itself around the group, holding them immobile. It made little ticking noises, like a clock, while making a slow rotation. The girl laughed, pleased. "Don't you see you don't stand a chance? Just give up!"

"So cliché," Riley muttered.

Keiko didn't take the bait. "Clockwork Mechanics really is a useful attack. It's how I got my brother's egg. It stops within its range. Sadly, it turns out it doesn't keep you from talking. Pity."

"More cliché's," Riley said with a grin. "Explaining their evil toys- or in this case, powers!"

"Mock me if you will. You can't get out, which I know for a fact because I've been watching you all for a long time."

Riley's grin widened. Keiko watched the expression warily. "You can only see what there is to see," Riley said philosophically.

"What?" Keiko demanded. "What are you talking about?"

Riley nodded, smile in place. "Easy. Speed Bake!" she shouted. One by one, the gears cracked and the group fell to the ground as they were released from their bindings. It didn't stop there. The weird green energy spread outwards, aging the technology in the room. If there was food, it would've been affected similarly.

"What! No!" Keiko shouted as, before her eyes, the machine holding the X-egg crumbled, the egg falling with it…

"NO!" Hiroko screamed, breaking the transformation and diving for her friend's egg- it was too late!-

"Negative Heart: Lock-on!"

Out of nowhere, a blast of energy hit the egg, purifying it. The egg turned green with a rocket on the front. The newly reborn egg hatched, revealing a smiling redhead. The Guardians looked in awe at the chara, who was presently returning Hiroko-chan's hug. He frowned at her crying face.

"Hiroko-chan…?" he asked slowly.

"Haru-kun," she replied sadly. "Good bye…."

"Wha- what? Hiroko-chan!"

Hiroko shook her head, her egg appearing around her. "It's time for me to go. I'll miss you Haru-kun."

Keiko was on the ground, crying. "Why….?Why?"

"Keiko-chan?" Haru asked in confusion. "What's going on? Where is Akira? Why is Hiroko going back in her egg? Keiko-chan?"

Keiko just shook her head, cradling her closed egg to her heart. "What have I done?" she wailed.

"Keiko."

The crying girl looked up, scarlet eyes pleading.

"You still have her egg. She isn't gone," Riley said. Even after all Keiko had done… Well, all that unforgivable. But the girl was obviously regretting what she had done. "You've left your path. You need to find it again. When you do, Hiroko-chan will be back."

"I-I…" Keiko whimpered. "I was so mean to her…. How could I…?"

"When you find your path, you can make it all back up to her…." Riley said, trailing off. She felt light headed… Oh, gods. It was time, wasn't it? Time to go home.

As if the other Guardians knew, they all came up to her and exchanged hugs. Even Utau and Kukai joined in. Ikuto tilted his head in acknowledgement.

"I'll miss you so much," Riley cried. She held onto Teagyn and Avery, hoping somehow she could take them with her. Her charas looked at her one last time with reassuring smiles before going back in their eggs. It was over…. She was going home.

**No excuse. For my late update, that is. Originally, I had no access to a computer, so the first couple weeks were not my fault. But mostly, I've just been lazy. I had a really stupid moment, as well, where for some reason it didn't occur to me I could update this without having a chapter for What You Don't Know, and when I was like "Doi, obviously" (about a week ago) I just never got to it. Nevertheless, here is the new chapter. And I'll also post the last one, since ya'll have waited long enough.**


	16. Epilogue

Epilogue

It was a month later, back in Riley's world. Only a few hours had passed during her stay in Seiyo and she would've believed she had just been dreaming… if not for the two eggs on her lap. She knew they weren't going to hatch, that she had seen the last of her guardian characters. Riley was just grateful she had some memory of them… something to prove the friends she had made weren't just figments of her imagination.

In a way, she felt she had been let off to easy. The battle with Keiko had ended so quickly- so easily. On that note, she felt bad for Hiroko-chan. And Haru. He had looked so torn up, watching his friend return to her egg. Riley even felt a little bad for Keiko- then again, maybe her own loss was too fresh in her mind. She had meant what she had said, though. Hiroko could still come back. Riley just hoped she wouldn't be misused again.

Riley was petting Teagyn's egg as she studied her painting. It reminded her of how the chara had hatched. The memory assignment from art class…. Her charas had given her new courage and she was going to honor their memory by never saying the word "can't" again. For the essay she had been procrastinating when she was teleported to the Shugo Chara world, she wrote about friends and overcoming fears. She had summarized that when there were people behind your back, the people in your way who would cut you down don't matter: you can overcome greater heights than just those you can see, even when people say "can't". She had gotten a B+ (mostly because of the way she wrote, but the teacher had praised her on the topic).

"What's that?" Alli asked, popping up out of nowhere. She was looking at the painting, one of many Riley had done since returning home.

"Old friends," Riley replied, tilting her head to look at her painting in another angle.

"It's really good! I didn't know you were this good!" Alli exclaimed. Riley smiled at her little sister, then at Hunter who was, as always, at his twins back.

"These friends taught me never to give up. Without them, I probably wouldn't be."

"Hey, they kinda look like…"

Riley nodded. "Yeah. Come on, let's go get some ice cream."

"Ice cream?" Hunter asked, eyes lighting up. He wasn't much of a talker, but Riley knew her brother's weakness.

As they walked out of Riley's bedroom, the light shut off on one of the best chapters of her young life. And a new one began.

The eggs sat beside the painting, unforgotten. Their inhabitants may never come out again, but they would be immortalized in Riley's paintings. Just like in the current project she was working on, which had all the eggs of the charas she had met around the edges and all the friends she had made, chara and bearer alike, in the center.

Memories were indeed forever, and Riley was glad it all turned out not to be a dream.

**When I first wrote this chapter, months ago, I wasn't that happy with it, but reading it over now, I'm satisfied with it. I hope you are too. Thank you all so much who stayed with me from the beginning, or met up with me later on and didn't get fed up when my weekly updates became biweekly, then sporadic :P I hope you had a fun time reading my obviously cliché story, the one that first brought me into the world of fanfiction all those months ago. Once I finish What You Don't Know, I may retire from fanfictioning (or not, maybe just a hiatus), as Shugo Chara is starting to lose its appeal and I've never seen a storyline so easy to play with to make your own.**

**I wanted to put in my characters here, to say goodbye as well, but it just doesn't fit anymore. Nevertheless, thank you so much.**


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